Gallery 4

Lose yourself in Someone Else’s Dream, a group exhibition that brings together the vibrant artwork of nine artists who boldly blur reality and fiction. The selection of works on paper by local and international artists Arturo Herrera, Richard Hull, José Lerma, Héctor Madera-González, Martin McMurray, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Christina Ramberg, Peter Saul, and T.L. Solien is filled with references to high and low art, the recognizable human form, and the psychological realm. Referencing the figure but eschewing images from the real world, each artist uses techniques of distortion through pliable biomorphic forms, gestural lines, and cartoon-like figures.

Someone Else’s Dream features two artists of the original Hairy Who, who took part in milestone exhibitions at the Hyde Park Art Center in the 1960s, along with several artists that have never exhibited at this venue. The combination of artists provides an opportunity to create new associations of the work outside of a historical analysis. Without going too far down the proverbial rabbit hole, Someone Else’s Dream acknowledges the personal efforts by each artist and asks what such an exhibition can unlock.

Someone Else’s Dream is guest curated by John McKinnon, the Program Director of The Society for Contemporary Art at The Art Institute of Chicago. From 2007 to 2010, he was Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Milwaukee Art Museum. He has written for Artforum, Art Papers, and X-TRA. He holds dual Masters Degrees in Art History and Arts Administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.